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Luke Coffey

BBS Graduate 2014 I graduated in the class of 2014 and have spent the past 18 months working on developing a health and wellness company. I started the business in my third year of college with my partner who also studied business at Trinity. For me, one of the best things about Trinity is it's centrally located campus and the feeling that you are studying in the heart of the city. The campus has an inviting atmosphere, inspires learning and is great during the warmer months. I studied BESS, finishing with a BBS degree. The broad curriculum and flexibility of the BESS course allowed me to pick and choose modules which I felt would aid my entrepreneurial endeavours, these included Innovation, Marketing and my favourite subject New Product Development. After finishing 4th year I participated in Launchbox, Trinity's student incubator. It was a brilliant experience and one of the main reasons I pursed my own business after college. I think from a student entrepreneurial standpoint, Trinity, and in particular Trinity Business School, is a place of amazing opportunity, aided in no small part by its forward looking initiatives like Launchbox.

James Allen

BBS Graduate 2014 I am currently working as an Account Strategist on the Global Customer Experience team at Google, helping SMBs to grow using Google's latest digital solutions. Additionally, I am Programme Manager for Google Ireland's Adopt a Startup programme, a 90 day digital incubator for high-potential European Startups. I am also a core member of the Google For Entrepreneurs team in Ireland where I lead some of our community engagement initiatives like the monthly Startup Meetups.
One of my favourite experiences from my degree was as part of my third year BESS programme I attended, for five months in 2013, Tongji University, Shanghai, China, where I studied Business Administration and Mandarin Chinese. This was a great opportunity provided by the Business School that really helped shape my career.

Iseult Ward

BESS Graduate 2013 and Business Student of the Year Award WinnerI loved studying the various subjects and Business was my favourite module in first year, which was why I knew I'd continue specializing in it for the next three years. What I found interesting about my time as a business student was that when I initially applied for the course, I thought I would pursue work in investment banking or sales and trading. This quickly changed after reading an article on social business models and studying the concept of sustainability in my marketing elective. This totally changed my direction, leading me to found FoodCloud – a service that matches businesses with surplus food to the needs of their local community organisations – diverting the tonnes of good food being dumped while helping those most in need in our communities.

I was able to shape my final year business course to keep it relevant to my new 'business', receiving great support from lecturers, enjoying the content and encouraging me to do very well.

Jonathan Orde

BBS Graduate 2009One of the big attractions about BESS for me, was the choice and flexibility afforded to undergraduates to explore interests in a variety of different subjects over the course of four years. Just as important as the course, is the place. Trinity has an amazing social atmosphere. Whatever your interest there are clubs and societies to develop any interest. If there isn't, you can create one! Get involved, run for elected position, organise events, stalk companies for sponsorship, the scope for ideas and creativity on campus are endless and it's great fun.

Looking back on my time at Trinity, I have acquired a way of thinking, and skills which have set me up for life. Trinity is not text book learning. It is a combination of academic theories and ideas, applied to what's happening in the real world right now, through a practical medium. As a student, you won't just write essays. You'll learn how to present ideas publicly in front of your class and leading Irish companies; work in teams to complete assignments; work to deadlines and organize your time; debate and learn off each other. You'll develop a portfolio of skills and knowledge you can apply to almost anything.

Before I started working, I had dealt with large investment banks on behalf of Trinity Traders; worked in teams, worked to deadlines, and developed the academic knowledge and research skills needed to do my job. This gave me a great head-start.

Svenja Dahlmann

BESS Graduate 2013
I completed a joint honors degree in Business and Political Science and I am very happy that I took that leap of faith and moved to Ireland. The best thing about studying in Trinity for me personally was the variety of things one can take up through the societies and faculties. I learnt Irish Sign Language and Chinese Mandarin. I don't think I would have taken up these things if I had studied at a German university.

The best thing about living in Dublin are the people, both Irish and foreign. People here are friendlier and more relaxed than where I come from and I like the culture and the vibe of the city.

Peter Robert Gardner

BESS Graduate 2012I was originally attracted to the BESS programme because it would provide me with a broad base of subjects in junior freshman year (with modules in Economics, Sociology, Business, Political Science, and a choice between law and a language) whilst allowing me to specialise in a single subject by senior sophister year. I came to Trinity planning to study economics, however I found the senior freshman modules in sociology so fascinating that I decided to change to single honors sociology.

Sociology alters the lens through which we view the world. It provides us with a means of critically taking apart everything held to be obvious or normal in society, and so to better understand social phenomena. Sociology at Trinity supplied me with the chance to take apart issues of race, ethnicity, gender, popular culture, globalisation, developing societies, migration patterns and conflict zones. After graduating I decided to continue studying sociology at Trinity, taking a masters in Race, Ethnicity, Conflict, and I hope to pursue a career in academia. Through the lectures, reading material, discussions with students and lecturers, and the general academic environment, Sociology at Trinity has been invaluable to me in my development.

Emma Karolii Pulkkinen

BESS Graduate 2013 from Finland
I chose Trinity because of its reputation - though I didn't know much about it, I had heard the name before, and that's already saying quite a bit. The more I researched Trinity, and especially the BESS course, the more I felt like it was the right fit for me, and would get me the experience to learn about Irish culture, as well as many other cultures.

In Dublin I very much like the relaxed attitude; I never have to worry about asking someone if I'm lost. In addition there's so much to do in Dublin - this is my 3rd year in Dublin and I'm still finding things I haven't done!

Nick Fitzpatrick

BESS Graduate 2012
What first attracted me to the BESS programme was the enormous variety encompassed within one course. The common first year exposes students to Business, Economics and Political Science as well as Sociology, while also providing students the option to study a language or Law. I found this initial broad subject range extremely useful as it meant I could experience various different areas before specialising in the later years. As is the case with many students I was by no means certain which direction I wished to follow when I filled out my CAO form, but by choosing BESS I ensured that my options were left open as the course splits into 10 different degree options.

Personally I opted to pursue a single honors degree in Economics. I feel that this particular qualification has afforded me with a wealth of opportunities. The skills that I learned during my undergraduate years have proven to be the perfect preparation for the Master's degree I am currently pursuing. Many of my classmates opted to enter the workforce following the completion of their undergraduate Economics degrees and they found that a qualification from Trinity College is well received by employers.